Sunday, September 25, 2011

15 Nanoseconds Of Fame

Okay, this is a test.
Which person in the Cedar Key Beacon photograph is FC?

You may remember that last weekend, I devoted my morning to slogging about in the marsh while participating in the Coastal Cleanup.
Astute readers may recall that I mentioned that I think I placed somewhere in the top trash picker category, since the sponsors gave me a bag of candy and had me pose for a picture.


A week later, I have confirmation.
Why a week?

The small towns in our Rhode Island sized county all publish weekly papers ... if you want a daily, you have to subscribe to a "foreign" newspaper from some other county.

I know, I know, who reads paper newspapers anymore ... everything in the paper version is a day old and you read it yesterday in the online version.

So maybe weekly papers make more sense ... less trees cut down, less paper waste, less gas used to deliver it ... and really, if it's not still interesting a week later, it was probably trivial to begin with.

Thursday, the Beacon came out, so I popped into the convenience store by the bait shop and bought a diet Coke and a paper. My Coastal Cleanup participation had 3 goals and getting into the paper was important to one of them.
My goals:
  1. Lead by example for my students. I had promoted the clean up all week in class. If you talk the talk with teenagers, you need to walk the walk.
  2. Clean up the local marshes that I love so much.
  3. Let the community of Cedar Key see that their new science teacher is investing time in their community outside of the classroom. Sort of a "get to know me" moment.
So for all the reasons above, I hustled hard that morning.  Those folks I didn't meet in person during the Coastal Cleanup, well they could see how hard I worked in the paper, ... even if  a week later.
What a plan.
What could go wrong?

This:  The Beacon reporter got my name wrong in the caption.

Too funny!

I could correct them, but I'm not sure it's worth waiting for a week.

At least the "mud otter" creepy thing I found got named correctly in the paper.


15 comments:

Sharon said...

"Mud Otter" LOL, rare indeed. Too bad about your name, but at least your picture is in it! We have a weekly paper here too, but it's mostly stories like "Truck Hits Cow" or "Port-a-Potty Explodes" (that one was last week)

Anonymous said...

Yes, good to see your picture in the paper and congrats on your award. Misspellings of names happens more often than you think. On a side note, changes in the news industry resulted in myself and a group of other journalists having to accept a buy-out 3 years ago. We were not the first round, nor the last. The "major" Midwest newspaper I formally worked for still publishes daily but will probably not hang in there much longer. They are now down to less than a skeleton staff. Not old enough to retire, even after 30 years in the industry, I'm now employed in an industry I used to cover. Sheesh!
Momadness in kc

cinbad122 said...

HAHAHA!!! They got your name wrong. :D

MamaHen said...

That's great!! I mean, not them getting your name wrong (I know all about that). Great story, great motivation, great publicity and great but creepy otter thingy. :D

Anonymous said...

Hi CF,

Sooo, they got your name wrong. We know who you are!!

P

Marilyn Kircus said...

Well, they did get your picture right and a picture is probably worth 2000 words in today's market. And I think you met all your goals.

Retired science teacher who seldom has her name spelled correctly, even on my school name badge.

Miz S said...

You're the old guy on the left of the photo, correct? *ducking and running away*

Anonymous said...

Hmm, I sympathize with you. The few times I've been in a paper, my name is usually mixed is mixed up with someone else, or totally left out, or never even makes it to the publication it was destined. We know your heart is in a good place. So thanks for cleaning up, even the creepy mud monster. Probably washed up from a hurricane or dropped out of a boat.
Tammy in Al.

Thunder said...

They forgot to mention how creepy the "mud otter" is!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your moments of fame. Doing the right thing and getting recognized for it... even if they can't get your name right.

Mark P said...

Too bad about the wrong name, but it's funny in another way. Way (way way) back when I worked for a medium-sized daily newspaper, we looked at many of the weeklies from the outlying areas. The rule for them was that you build circulation by putting people's names in the paper. It tends to defeat the purpose if you misspell the name.

R.Powers said...

Thank you for the comments.
This is Mr. FC's new press secretary. He wants you to know that his 15 nanoseconds of fame has not changed him a bit and that autographed pictures will soon be available to all readers who send a postage paid crate containing a new Evinrude E-Tec outboard motor of 60 to 75 hp.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I hope your 15 nano seconds of fame will inspire hundreds of hours of community service. Good job. Tell your press secretary there is a PPcrate with the motor on its way that way you don't have to wait for it but your secretary will keep an eye out for it.

Julie Zickefoose said...

My father always said, with a pious look on his face, "There's no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit."
Hee hee hee. We know it's all about getting in the paper for you, F.C. Such a poser.

I am in jest, of course. Did you want a red or black Evinrude?

If you want your name screwed up, try going around named Zickefoose.
And also, try, just try getting in the local paper without "for the birds!" appearing in the headline and/or story.

R.Powers said...

Lisa and Julie,
Finally I will have twin outboards on "Summer School".
And Julie, I can just imagine what reporters might do to Zickefoose.